Source: 18th Battalion Nominal Roll, April 1915.
Find-A-Grave
Summary of Service[i] for Private Frederick William Driver, reg. no. 53449
| Date | Event | Remarks |
| October 20, 1895 | Born | Born Suffolk, England. |
| Circa 1900 – 1914 | Immigrates to Canada | Immigrates to Canada and appears to reside in Woodstock, Ontario. |
| October 26, 1914 | Enlists | Enlists with the 18th Battalion at Woodstock, Ontario. He is a 19-year-old labourer and lists his sister, Bernice Close (No. 14 Married Quarters, The Barracks, Inniskilling, Ireland) as his next-of-kin. This 5’8” man has no prior military experience and has a blonde medium complexion, gray eyes, and blonde hair. He agrees to the mandatory series of Typhoid inoculations.[ii] |
| December 14, 1914 | Mulct Pay | $2.20 of pay withheld per DO 42. |
| February 1915 | Mulct Pay | 1 day’s pay ($1.00) withheld. DO 87. |
| April 18, 1915 | Embarks | Embarks SS Grampian at Halifax, Nova Scotia, for England. |
| April 29, 1915 | Disembarks | Disembarks Avonmouth and arrives West Sandling Camp same day. |
| May 8, 1915 | Brother KIA | Brother Private Leonard Driver KIA during the 2nd Battle of Ypres. His battalion suffered 700 casualties. |
| June 19, 1915 | Forfeits Pay | Forfeits 3-day’s pay for being AWL. Possibly to visit family. |
| September 15, 1915 | Arrives | Arrives with the Battalion in France in transit to Belgium for active service. |
| February 1, 1916 | Memorandum | Memorandum for the Officer i/c of Records regarding a question of there is a sum of money due Private William Driver from the estate of his brother, Private Leonard Driver, reg. no. 9300 to the Royal Lancaster Regiment, 2nd Division. This man served with the King’s Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment, 2nd Battalion. He died on May 8, 1915, at the age of 25-years old and is commemorated at the Menin Gate (Panel 12). |
| July 7, 1916 | Makes Will | Leaves real and personal estate to a Mrs. E. Fox, 65 West Street, Farnham, Surrey. |
| September 19, 1916 | Promoted | Promoted Corporal. |
| April 9, 1917 | Wounded | Wounded during the attack on Vimy Ridge. Suffers a GSW to the right hip. |
| April 10, 1917 | Admitted | Admitted to No. 2 Stationary Hospital, Boulogne. |
| April 15, 1917 | Admitted and TOS | Admitted to Duchess of Connaught Hospital and TOS with WORD. |
| April 23, 1917 | X-rays | X-rays taken of wound. |
| August 9, 1917 | Reverts to Private | Reverts to private on own request. This may be an attempt to get back to the front to fight with another unit if his wounds healed and changed his designation to that of being able to be fit for active service. |
| December 5, 1917 | Proceeds of a Medical Board | He has an “inability to walk properly” due to the fact his wound keeps re-healing and during this process he cannot walk. The board must think there is potential for him to heal as they have denied discharge due to medical reasons. |
| January 3, 1918 | Transferred | Transferred to No. 15 Canadian General Hospital. |
| March 24, 1918 | Transferred | Transferred to No. 11 Canadian General Hospital, Moore Barracks, Shorncliffe. |
| May 9, 1918 | Transferred | Transferred to Military Convalescent, Epsom. |
| June 19, 1918 | Transferred | Transferred to the “Manor” due to influenza. This is the Manor War Hospital, Epsom. |
| July 6, 1918 | Admitted or Resident At | Convalescent Hospital, Woodcote Park, Epsom. Medical report states “Returned from Manor after attack of influenza. Feeling fine no complaints. W’s [wounds] in buttock healed well. No disability.” |
| July 30, 1918 | Admitted | Admitted to the Manor. |
| August 3, 1918 | Admitted | Admitted No. 16 Canadian General Hospital. |
| October 25, 1918 | Admitted or Resident At | Massey-Harris Convalescent Hospital, “Kingswood”, Dulwich. |
| August 23, 1918 | Anti-Tetanus Shot | ATS this date. 500 units. |
| September 5, 1918 | X-rays Taken | 3 x-rays with notes taken. |
| December 2, 1918 | Admitted | Admitted to 16th Canadian General Hospital, Orpington. |
| December 17, 1918 | Discharged | Discharged from above. |
| December 27, 1918 | On Command | On Command to 1st CCD at Buxton. |
| December 28, 1918 | Attached | Attached to CDD Buxton for return to Canada per Part II oders. |
| January 4, 1919 | Embarks | Embarks SS Grampian at Liverpool for Canada. |
| January 24, 1919 | SOS and TOS | SOS to CEF in Canada to No. 1 MD. |
| February 4, 1919 | Posted | Posted to Casualty Company and granted furlough with subsistence allowance to February 18, 1919. |
| February 19, 1919 | Dental Exam | 3 amalgams completed. |
| February 24, 1919 | Discharged | Discharged at No. 1 MD, London, Ontario as medically unfit. Apparently, his complexion is not ruddy, his eyes are brown, and his hair is brown. He is issued with War Service Badge, Class A no. 82617 and B no. 52271. He indicates is place of residence is going to be 716 Nelson Street, Woodstock, Ontario. |
| Post-War | Change of Address Card | Not dated. Changed address from 716 Nelson Street, Woodstock, Ontario to 749 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba. |
Acronyms
| AWL | Absent Without Leave: Generally, a soldier would be deducted 1-days pay for every day absent. In some cases, the soldier would be confined to barracks. Sometimes it was a combination of both. |
| A Classification | Medical Board Classification that determined your fitness for duty. A1, A2, A3 and A4 were assigned to different units with the expectation that these men would be able to serve with active combat units. See this link for more information. |
| B Classification | Medical Board Classification that determined your fitness for duty. B1, B2, and B3 were assigned to different service units such as railway and forestry corps. See this link for more information. |
| D Classification | See this link for more information. |
| CAMC | Canadian Army Medical Corp |
| CB | Confined to Barracks: a punishment for minor infractions. |
| CCD | Casualty Convalescent Depot: a depot at a base where men, in their final stages of convalescing, would be prepared for duty depending on their rating. |
| CCH | Casualty Clearing Hospital |
| CCRC | Canadian Corps Reserve Camp |
| CCS | Casualty Clearing Station: this facility was attached to rail transportation from the front to hospitals on the coast of France |
| CDC | Canadian Dispatch Camp |
| CFA | Canadian Field Ambulance/Canadian Field Artillery. Most common usage would be Canadian Field Ambulance. |
| DAH | Disorderly Action of the Heart |
| DRS | Divisional Rest Station |
| GSW | Gun Shot Wound – this was a generic term for all projectile penetrating wounds. |
| In the Field | This term relates to a soldier arriving at an active-duty unit after transporting from England, to France, and then to his duty assignment. The routing varied from soldier to soldier and could take 2-3 days to several months. |
| MD | Military District |
| PUO | Pyrexia of Unknown Origin: This was a term used for any illness that could not clearly be identified and typically was related to influenza symptoms. |
| SOS | Struck Off Strength |
| TOS | Taken On Strength |
| CAMC | Canadian Army Medical Corp |
| CCH | Casualty Clearing Hospital |
| CFA | Canadian Field Ambulance |
| DRS | Divisional Rest Station |
| GSW | Gun Shot Wound – this was a generic term for all projectile penetrating wounds. |
| MD | Military District |
| PUO | Pyrexia of Unknown Origin |
| SOS | Struck Off Strength |
| TOS | Taken On Strength |
| WORD | Western Ontario Regimental Depot |
[i] The Summary of Service for this soldier is meant as just that, a summary of his service. It is not intended to be an exhaustive biographical relation of his life or his war service. Some information may be deliberately suppressed by the author out of sensitivity to the soldier. Readers are encouraged to reference the actual service records available at the Library and Archives Canada in PDF format if they wish to learn more about this soldier. Such additional information (i.e. hyperlinks etc.) are for informational purpose only and no claim to verification or accuracy is made by the author of this summary.
[ii] This soldier does not appear to assign his pay to a relative. This is unusual.
